ASUS has recently announced of their new motherboard series for the latest Intel Z490 chipsets that will run the 10th Generation of their Processors. These ASUS Intel Z490 Motherboards announced come in the following models: ROG Maximus XII Apex/Extreme/Formula/Hero, ROG Strix Z490-A/E/F/G/I/H Gaming, TUF Gaming Z490 Plus (and another with WiFi), ProArt Z490-Creator 10G, ASUS Prime Z490- A/M-Plus/P. This puts a total of around sixteen new motherboards from ASUS alone. In the next section we’ll go over the improvements of the Z490 chipset and detail each new board.
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Intel Z490 Chipset
The new 10th Gen Intel Core processors will launch having more thread counts and faster clock speeds. The Z490 chipset offers plenty of cutting-edge connectivity options, including a built-in WiFi controller, numerous USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, Intel Optane™ memory and chipset RAID support. ASUS has added some additional features over to these boards. The OptiMem III technology ensures better signal integrity and AI Overclocking technology to improve CPU performance. ASUS AI Overclocking technology utilizes a proprietary smart algorithm to predict optimal clock speed and voltage settings for the motherboard, providing users an instant speed boost with a click of a button.
Aside from the Z490 motherboards, ASUS and ROG will soon release H470, B460, and H410 motherboards, providing builders more freedom to choose parts based on needs and budget. To learn more on the complete ASUS Z490 Motherboards lineup, please visit the ASUS Z490 landing page. A guide with specifications
and images for the entire lineup of ASUS Z490 series motherboards can be found in the Edge Up Buying Guide.
ASUS and ROG Z490 Motherboards
Republic of Gamers Maximus Series
ROG Maximus XII Extreme – This particular motherboard model is the top tier motherboard in the line-up (eATX form factor). The board is geared for builders who will use top-end 10th Gen Intel Core processors, multiple graphics cards, fast storage and tons of peripherals attached. It is equipped with MicroFine Alloy chokes with teamed power stages along with ASUS ProCool solid pins to deliver stable power to the CPU. Beefed up and thermally conductive cooling pads allow transfer of heat from VRMs to its equally massive heatsink array. For NVMe drives, heat-sinks made of solid aluminum provide additional cooling. And utilizing ASUS OptiMem III allows the board to have better signal integrity, thanks to its daisy-chain topology.
The Maximus XII Extreme allows builders to install 4800Mhz of memory and higher, allowing extreme overclocking. ASUS has assured of 80% compatibility of 4800MHz DDR4 kits Included with this is an LED post code display, allowing builders instant notification of POST codes, along with buttons for Power, Retry, Safe-Boot.
The board is equipped with 4x M.2 slots with 2 of these found in the front side of the board. The other two are found on the DIMM.2 card that also includes heat sinks to protect the drives and provide efficient performance.
For USB connectivity, the ROG Maximus XII Extreme comes with a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type C port, Three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one Type C and two Type A) making a total of 20 (the rest are a mix of USB 2.0 and USB 3.2 Gen 1). As for network connectivity, it has an Intel I225-V controller for 2.5Gb Ethernet and a Marvell 10Gb Ethernet controller. The wireless functionality included offers WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.
Unique to the Extreme model is a bundled ThunderboltEX 3-TR card, an Intel certified Thunderbolt 3 add-on card that provides bi-directional transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. An integrated Thunderbolt 3 header can support a maximum of 6 devices in daisy-chain connection and can provide up to 100 watts of power to fast-charge devices.
ROG Maximus XII Apex – Whilst the Extreme model is an eATX sized board, the Maximus XII Apex keeps itself under the ATX form factor. It is similar to the Extreme with a 16 teamed power stage design. It also has a huge heat-sink for the power components to keep these cool.
There are numerous headers spread around the board for standard and high amperage fans. Also there are water cooling cooling headers and sensors. The ROG Probelt voltage measurement points can also be found along the motherboard next to DIP switches for the overclocking bench’s boot sequence. This onboard control hub also has an LED POST code display, and Start and remappable FlexKey buttons.
ROG Maximus XII Formula – For builders seeking to create an extreme PC with Water cooling in mind, the Maximus XII Formula is the right board to use. The VRM features a CrossChill waterblock designed in collaboration with EK Water Blocks. The CrossChill EK III Hybrid heat-sink is capable of cooling 50 degrees less than standard heat sink designs.
The board also has a POST code LED display as well as power and reset buttons on the top right side of the board.
ROG Maximus XII Hero (WiFi) – The Maximus XII Hero motherboard focuses on being the foundational motherboard for builders. It still has two Ethernet ports one 2.5Gb and another 5Gb, and WiFi 6. Unlike other Maximus XII boards, it has only three M.2 slots on board, two on the front side, and one in the rear. Same as with the other Maximus XII boards however, is the flexibility of the user to perform overclocks thanks to AI Overclocking and OptiMem III.
Republic of Gamers Strix Series
ROG Strix Z490E/F Gaming – The E model sports a 14+2 power stage, while the F model a 12+2 power stage. These are ATX models and both offer overclocking options and have similar specifications, except for WiFi. The Strix Z490E comes included with WiFi 6 while the Strix Z490F has an M.2 slot for attaching a WiFi module. Thunderbolt connectivity is made possible through an optional ThunderboltEX-3 card (bundled in the Maximus XII Extreme).
ROG Strix Z490I Gaming – The Strix Z490I model is ideal for small form factor PC builders. Having an ITX form factor, the Strix Z490I Gaming features a 8+2 power stage VRM. Even with its small size, it still fits in 2 M.2 devices (drives or WiFi modules) in the front side. There are a total of 13 USB ports available to use, including three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, and one Type C.
ROG Strix Z490H/A Gaming – This motherboard is similar to the Strix Z490F Gaming with one less USB Port, and having three PCIe 3.0, running 16x if single, or x8/x4/x4 in Crossfire (no SLI) and one PCIe 3.0 x4. The Strix Z490A Gaming has a similar setup with the Z490H. The Z490A Gaming has a slightly different USB port setup and it comes in white.
ROG Strix Z490G Gaming (WiFi) – The ROG Strix Z490G (WiFi) is a step higher than the Z490I model where it is a mATX form factor board that has WiFi, 12+2 teamed power stage design and four DIMM slosts.
ASUS TUF Gaming Series
TUF Gaming Z490-Plus / Z490-Plus (Wifi) – The TUF Gaming Z490 Plus is built with a 6 layer PCB for better heat dissipation, also having a 12+2 teamed power stage. TUF capacitors with high heat tolerance and ProCool solid-core auxiliary power inputs complement the main power circuitry. The two PCIe x16 slots are configured to run as x16 single and the second as x4. Also only one of the PCIe slots use the ASUS SafeSlot design. There are two M.2 slots, with one of these having a heat-sink cover. USB connectors are divided to USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports at the rear, while a Gen 2 header allows for front panel USB ports to connect.
The Z490 Plus WiFi model has an Intel WiFi 6 AX201 controller with TUF LanGuard to protect from electrostatic discharge. Both models have the Intel I225 1G Ethernet controller for wired connection.
ASUS ProArt Series
ProArt Z490-Creator 10G – This motherboard provides a professional creator will ever need. Focusing on having more USB 3.0 Gen 2.2 ports than most of the ROG/TUF models, this allows creators to have fast and reliable connectivity to devices they connect, particularly external drives. Also, unlike the ROG Maximus line, having Thunderbolt 3 ports is mandatory for added flexibility with devices, and is powered by the latest ‘Titan Ridge’ controller.
The ProArt Z490-Creator 10G comes with three PCIe x16 slots, allowing up to three GPUs to run in an x8/x8/x4 topology.
ASUS Prime Series
Prime Z490-A – The Prime Z490-A motherboard utilizes a 12+2 phase teamed power design with DrMOS circuitry and like the TUF model, a 6 layer PCB structure to control heat. The DIMM slots allow for up to 128GB of 4600MHz memory. The M.2 slots allow for long 110mm storage drives. For network, it has a 2.5Gb Ethernet controller as standard. An optional M.2 wifi card can be installed. A header for Thunderbolt3 is available. RGB lighting is also supported, with 2 Addressable RGB headers and 2 regular RGB Headers. This board supports NVIDIA’s SLI aside from AMD’s Crossfire
Prime Z490-P – The Prime Z490-P motherboard features a 10+1 teamed power design, support for up to 4600MHz of RAM, and dual M.2 slots for drives, an E-key slot for a WiFi module. Its PCIe x16 slot comes with a SafeSlot design. It also has 3 RGB headers; one addressable and two normal RGB headers. It even has a Thunderbolt3 header included should a user need to connect a Thunderbolt3-TR card to it.
Prime Z490M-Plus – This is the smallest of the Prime models, offering users to build on a mATX form factor. It has a 8+1 DrMOS power stage. The Z490M-Plus has modest heat-sinks to ensure consistent power is delivered to the CPU. Memory is supported to up to 4400MHz and is powered by ASUS OptiMem. It has two M.2 slots for drives, along with five SATA ports for HDDs. Its rear I/O panel has DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI; aside from the usual Ethernet (1Gb) and USB 3.2 Type A and C ports.
Avaialbility and Pricing
ASUS Z490 Motherboards availability will be made this Month (May). As for Pricing, please contact your favorite ASUS reseller for information on stock and price.
